BY SELIN KAYA
Brunswick East residents enduring lockdown were able to time their hour of exercise to coincide with a spontaneous front-lawn dance show most afternoons.
The colourful performances began at the start of lockdown as part of the Brunswick East Entertainment Festival, providing a much-needed escape from the drudgery of isolation.
The group, known as The Wholesome Hour, lived up to its name. Performer Lily Fish said the women found comfort in their work, which lifted neighbourhood spirits and garnered ample media coverage.
“It's kind of a self-fulfilling prophecy at the moment, because the work that we’re doing is wholesome,” Ms Fish said.
The group began performing to alleviate an encroaching sense of cabin fever as stage-four lockdown loomed.
Group member Kimberly Twiner said a light bulb moment came when she looked out the window and saw her housemate looking like a “caged animal”.
“There was a particular day where I saw Ell with her headphones on in our front yard just walking in circles, kicking the air, and I saw her through my window... and I thought ‘wow that looks like a caged animal',” Ms Twiner said.
“So I went out and was like ‘Hey Ell, should we put the 80’s lycra on and just do some flocking in the front yard?’ and Ell was like, ‘Yeah!’.”
'Flocking' is an improvisational musical theatre movement. Group member Angela Fouhy said it allows the group to follow each other's lead, without having to rehearse the dance moves beforehand.
“It’s a kind of method of movement so you don’t have to choreograph anything… and the person at the front is leading the movement in hopefully a way that others should seamlessly be able to follow,” Ms Fouhy said.
Not only have they been able to bring joy to local residents, but also to the wider Melbourne community via social media. Group member Ell Sachs said she has been happy with the response.
“I feel like I’ve been more in touch with parts of the community that my art hasn’t necessarily been in touch with before,” Ms Sachs said.
The feelings of connectedness from differing parts of the community was something that other group members found rewarding too.
“It’s so non-pretentious, and I’m so happy to be connecting with this audience who probably don’t consider themselves theatre goers,” Ms Fish said.
Ms Twiner found their performances have acted as a “collective joy attack”, noting the butterfly effect their work has had.
“It’s a very profound thing and something that my theatre teacher calls a ‘collective joy attack’, so the moment when people see us, and we see them, and then someone else honks, and then someone yells "hello" and then someone gives us a thumbs up, and then we move, there’s a collective joy attack which is quite profound right now because there is a collective gloom,” she said.
“In a huge way, people are sharing a joyful moment so that’s definitely one of the things that’s happening.”
The Wholesome Hour continue to bring joy to Melburnians on a front lawn in Nicholson Street, for more information you can find them here.
